This invention relates in general to farm implements, and more specifically, to a stock carrying trailer adapted to be pulled behind a farm tractor and capable of being efficiently lowered and raised for loading and transporting stock.
Various types of vehicles have been used by farmers in the past to transport stock from one location to another. A particular problem associated with the use of such prior vehicles is the difficulty of loading stock onto them. Specifically, some type of ramp or substantial step must be climbed by the stock upon entering the trailer or other such vehicle. The resistance of stock to overcoming such obstacles is well known. Instead, they tend to avoid such obstacles by simply walking around them or stopping in front of them and refusing to advance further.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a tractor pulled stock trailer, the platform of which may be lowered directly onto the ground for loading the stock so as to substantially eliminate any obstacle to stock entry and exit relative to the platform.
Another object of the present invention is a stock trailer of rugged construction and one to which known leveling mechanisms are adaptable.
Another object of the present invention is a stock trailer having a lifting mechanism which may be attached to the platform as a unit structure and pivoted relative to the platform to allow the same to rest directly on the ground in its lowered stock-loading position.
Another object of the present invention is a stock trailer having a lifting mechanism which provides an efficient leverage for initially lifting the trailer off of the ground.
The stock trailer of the present invention is simply and ruggedly constructed, adapted for quick and easy attachment to and detachment from a towing vehicle and easily operable to load and transport stock. The trailer has a stock-carrying platform with a pair of upstanding side plates or lift arms pivotally supported at opposite sides of the platform for pivotal movement longitudinally of the platform about a common transverse axis. The side plates are triangular, each having a lower apex on which a wheel is rotatably carried, an upper apex for a common pivot member and an intermediate apex which functions as a ground supported fulcrum when the platform is in a lowered stock-loading position resting directly on the ground. The side plates are thus utilized to improve the initial lifting leverage.